Overview

• Germany’s top social court overturned the Baden‑Württemberg ruling and ordered new fact‑finding by the Landessozialgericht.
• It affirmed that Koch was neither an employee nor a volunteer of ZDF under the usual insured categories.
• The court introduced an overlooked Social Code provision that can treat a non‑insured entrepreneur as insured when harmed by someone acting in a business role.
• On remand, judges must assess whether a member of Koch’s self‑organized team—such as the driver—contributed to the accident and whether any civil claims are legally barred; if road traffic law applied, driver fault could be presumed.
• Koch described having mixed feelings about the nonfinal outcome, while his lawyer called the ruling a partial success that could open access to accident‑insurance benefits.